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Health Tip: What May Be Causing Painful Swallowing

By HealthCast on November 25, 2009

Eating is no fun if it hurts to swallow. Uncomfortable squeezing or burning could be felt anywhere from the upper neck to behind the breastbone.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine list these possible causes of difficult swallowing:

A number of different infections, from thrush to herpes simplex.
An abscess or infection in the teeth.
Ulcers in the throat or mouth.
An inflamed esophagus.
Having an object lodged in the throat.
Esophageal abnormalities.

Source: HealthDay

Are You Living with Psoriasis?

A growing knowledge of the skin disease called psoriasis is leading to greater treatment choices, including personalized therapies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports.

Psoriasis is an immune system disorder that causes overproduction of skin cells, resulting in scaling, pain, swelling, redness and heat. The condition affects about 7.5 million Americans.

“As we better understand the disease, researchers know more about what specific factors to target in order to develop effective treatments,” FDA dermatologist Dr. Melinda McCord said in an agency news release.

There is no cure for psoriasis, so the main goals of treatments are to stop skin cell overproduction and reduce inflammation. Current therapies include medicines applied to the skin (topical), light treatment (phototherapy), or drugs taken by mouth or given by injection.

Doctors used to take a step-by-step approach, starting patients with mild to moderate psoriasis on topical therapy. If that was ineffective, doctors moved on to phototherapy or drug treatment.

Health Tip: What May Be Causing Painful Swallowing

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Are You Living with Psoriasis?

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